


they’ve got me

by troubadour, unearth



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Family Bonding, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Season/Series 10, Science Project
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:15:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22752376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/troubadour/pseuds/troubadour, https://archiveofourown.org/users/unearth/pseuds/unearth
Summary: Mickey’s not really sure when he became the go-to person for things like this, but he kinda enjoys it.
Relationships: Frances Gallagher & Mickey Milkovich, Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Liam Gallagher & Mickey Milkovich
Comments: 40
Kudos: 479





	they’ve got me

“The hell are you doing awake?”

Liam startles, the bright red scissors in his hand clattering noisily to the ground. Mickey _would_ feel bad about scaring the shit out of the kid, but Liam’s shocked expression slowly morphs into amusement, a quiet little chuckle escaping his parted lips. So, he figures he didn’t fuck him up too bad. “Science project.”

Mickey raises his eyebrows while he opens the fridge, taking out a cold bottle of water for Ian. His meds sometimes give him crazy fucking cotton mouth when they’re adjusted, not to mention a big case of being too fucking lazy to get out of bed to get his own water. Not that Mickey minds—he’d much rather make a small trip down the stairs than lie awake and listen to Ian’s whining. “Science project… at two in the morning?”

Liam sighs, taking a marker from the giant pile on the kitchen table. “Yeah. For the science fair. I always say I won’t procrastinate, and then…” he sounds so fucking dramatic, like someone else he knows (starts with an I, kinda alien looking), looks so _wounded_ , that Mickey has to hide his smile behind the water bottle. “I do.”

He bites back his automatic response to anything school related. Like hell he’d ever let Liam drop out of school, he’s the only smart one around here that could actually go off to college, _finish_ , get the hell out of this dump. “What’s it over?”

“I just have to make a poster about an element. I chose Lithium. You know, ‘cause I remember Ian talking about it and I wanted to know more about what it does.”

Mickey’s chest feels a little warm at that. He can’t help but move closer and run his fingers through Liam’s curly hair, and he doesn’t really _do_ that, be _affectionate_ with people other than Ian, but the kid’s his _brother in law._ His family. He figures that’s the kind of shit he should do now, be someone who Liam knows he can always talk to and count on, show a little love once in a while. “That’s it?” he asks, eyes flickering up to the stairs before settling back to Liam. The poor kid looks tired as all hell, hands moving in slow motion where he’s outlining the “Li” in blue. “Tell you what, I’ll go give Ian his water and come help you. Fuck that, we’re gonna get you first place.”

Liam looks up at him, grinning wide, and Mickey just snorts and pushes gently at his shoulder before taking the stairs two at a time.

Ian peeks his head out from under the blankets when Mickey opens the door, smile lazy and slow. “Mmm, thank you. Get under here.”

Mickey clicks his tongue after he sets the water bottle on the nightstand. “Ay, I’m gonna help Liam with his science project real fast. Poor kid’s scrambling to finish it in time.”

“What?” Ian’s eyes open wider, and he sits up on his elbows. “You guys need me to help too?”

Rolling his eyes fondly, Mickey just hums in protest and leans down to press a quick kiss to Ian’s forehead. “No, man, I got it. Get your ass back to sleep, you know you need more of it when you’re getting used to the adjustment.”

Ian grumbles but nods, settling back into the mess of blankets and pillows. Mickey can’t help but reach out and run his fingers through his hair, smiling to himself at the tiny little curls near his temple. His hair’s getting longer, the way Mickey likes it.

“I’ll be back, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Abandon me to hang out with my little brother, I see how it is.”

Snorting, Mickey smooths his thumb over Ian’s bottom lip before leaving the room again. His husband’s such a fucking dork, it’s almost sickening at times.

When he gets back to the kitchen, Liam is slumped over the laptop. “You know what’s cool? It’s so light that it can float on water. And it was one of the three elements produced in really, really big quantities, when the universe _exploded_. _And_ it’s a metal, Mickey, but you can cut it with a _knife_! It’s that soft!”

“Alright, Google,” Mickey retorts. He _is_ impressed though, that sounds cool as shit. He sits in a chair across from the giant white poster board and raises his eyebrows. It’s plain—nothing but markers and bullet-pointed facts in pencil. He never liked school, all his teachers made him feel stupid and he _hated_ sitting still for seven hours straight, but fuck if he didn’t love decorating shit. He was fucking _great_ in art class, his art teacher in third grade was the only one who ever complimented him, made him feel like he was actually good at something. “Well, this is ugly as fuck, Liam.”

Liam lets out a shocked laugh, then shuts the laptop to look down at it. His arms are crossed when Mickey looks up at him. “Well, any suggestions then, _Picasso_?”

“Yeah, I have plenty fucking suggestions, thank you very much. Get upstairs—don’t wake Franny up for the love of _God_ —and get that basket of scrapbook shit Debbie has in the hallway. We’re about to glitter bomb this shit.”

Liam takes off up the stairs and is back within a minute, setting the basket down near Mickey. Now _this_ is his territory. Ribbon, glitter, yarn, the whole nine yards. He takes the clear glue first, then outlines the “Li”. “None of this blue marker shit. Get that red glitter and pour it where I’m putting the glue before it dries up.”

Liam follows his directions, shaking the glitter until the outline looks pretty good. “What about the inside?”

“The inside will be the silver glitter. Right, ‘cause it’s a metal? And it’ll look cool with the red around it.”

Liam perks up when Mickey starts squeezing glue again, grabbing the bottle of silver glitter. “Oh, that’s gonna look dope.”

Mickey snorts. “Don’t question my art skills, son.”

Liam raises his hands in mock surrender. “Never again.”

They work together for a good half an hour, researching the atomic number and its classification and who it was discovered by. Mickey thinks it’s pretty interesting reading all the facts about the element, thinks it’s cool as hell knowing that it gives off a bright red flame when it’s burning.

The poster board quickly fills up with a shit ton of color, and Mickey draws little pictures of things Lithium’s used for: batteries, ceramics, glass, aircraft material, anti-depressants. He tries not to feel too offended that Liam’s _seriously_ shocked that he’s good at doodling, smiles when Liam keeps tracing over his quick sketch of an airplane with his fingers, an awed look in his dark brown eyes.

When they finish up the project, Mickey shakes off the excess glitter in the trashcan and raises it up for Liam to see. It’s cute to see the kid so happy at the outcome, his whole mood is _completely_ changed from an hour ago.

“Thanks, Mickey. And sorry I woke you up.”

“None of that shit, it was fun. Right?”

Liam _beams_. “Yeah, it was.”

Before Mickey can say anything, there’s a noise from the top of the stairs that’s definitely Franny, her soft little whimpers threatening to turn into a cry every second that passes. Fuck.

He was _sure_ that this would be the day she finally slept through the night without crying for Debbie. It breaks Mickey’s heart knowing he can’t do shit for her except rock her gently until she falls back asleep. He kinda wants to make a trip to the county jail and bust her out just so he can stop seeing the look in Franny’s eyes when she realizes her mom’s not back yet.

Mickey stumbles up the stairs, picking her up before her cries turn into something gnarly and she wakes Ian up again. Her eyes are wet with unshed tears and he sighs sadly, lets her drop her head onto his chest. “Hey, now. You’re okay.”

He walks slowly to her room, sits on the edge of the bed with her still in his arms. “Why’d you wake up, huh?”

Mickey’s not really sure when he became the go-to person for things like this, but he kinda enjoys it. He’s never really felt like his existence was anything special, like he was _wanted_ or even needed, but helping Liam with his project, seeing that big smile on his face after they finished, and feeling the way Franny’s breathing calms down when he hugs her to his chest is something that fills him with warmth. This is his _family_ , people that have somehow gotten themselves into his inner circle, and he’d do _anything_ for these people.

“Bad dream,” Franny whimpers, clutching Mickey’s shirt with her little fists. “I want mom.”

“You remember what I said about bad dreams? Those assholes trying to get you aren’t real. They’re just trying to scare you because that’s all they can do. Hmm? And your ma’s gonna be back real soon. I pinky promised.”

Franny hums, and Mickey takes that as a good sign.

He holds her, rubs soothing circles into her back, and when she finally goes a little limp in his arms he leans over and puts her back to bed, pulls the blankets over her until they reach her chin. When he’s back to standing, careful not to make any loud noises, he reaches out and tucks a strand of red hair behind her ear, smiling at the way she sighs calmly in her sleep.

He feels exhausted when he finally gets back to his room, and when he shuts the stupid creaky door he hisses through his teeth when the noise is louder than he expected. “Shh!”

Ian laughs sleepily from the bed. “You talkin’ to the door now?”

“Fuck,” Mickey curses, crossing the room to get under the blankets. Ian immediately latches onto him, presses a kiss to his clothed chest. “I didn’t mean to wake you up again.”

“’S okay. Liam done?”

“Yeah,” Mickey whispers, scratching his nails through Ian’s hair. His eyelids are so heavy. It takes him a few moments to gather energy to speak again. “Got Franny back to sleep, too.”

“She alright?”

“Mmm. Just a dream. And she misses Debs.”

Ian holds Mickey closer. The sound of their breathing fills the room, and the last thought Mickey has before letting sleep take over is how fucking great it feels being able to take care of his family. 

**Author's Note:**

> if i just woke up at 3 am to write this then thats none of anyones business but my own (i will fix anything tomorrow)....also if ur waiting for an update on my wip i PROMISE its coming soon blame my university for drowning me with work!  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/markofalover)  
> [main ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/unearth)


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